(Spirit Lake)– Budget cuts from the state are forcing an agency that provides transportation services to Clay and Dickinson counties to revamp some of its services.
Rose Lee of RIDES, the regional transit authority, is asking the cities of Spirit Lake, Okoboji, Arnolds Park and Milford to come up with a total of 25-thousand dollars to fund a “community-based” transportation system. Lee says the system would cater mostly to senior citizens…but she says others could benefit as well.
Lee says cities have two possible ways to come up with the money. She says they could impose a special property tax levy of less than 15 cents per thousand dollars valuation. For Spirit Lake, that would amount to about 12-thousand dollars. Lee says cities could also fund the operation on a per-capita basis.
Lee pitched the proposal to the Spirit Lake City Council at its meeting Tuesday. Council members agreed to take it under consideration during upcoming budget talks.
